Entrepreneurship competition
Tear down the barriers.
Build the venture that does it.
A one-day entrepreneurship competition where high school founders build ventures around the everyday costs that keep families from getting ahead. Bring a prototype. Pitch it in 60 seconds. Five teams go on to Demo Day.
The best businesses start with a cost somebody can't afford.
The barriers to financial health are real and specific: transportation that costs more than the job pays, rent that eats 60% of a paycheck, medical debt from a single ER visit. Budgeting advice doesn't fix them. A founder who has lived them might.
Sources: Federal Reserve, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households (SHED), fielded October 2025; Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, State of the Nation's Housing 2025.
Three steps.
Find your market
Pick a cost that keeps families from getting ahead. Work out who it hurts, what it costs them, and why nobody has fixed it. That's your customer research.
Build the venture
An app, a product, a service, a community program, a policy campaign. Decide how it reaches people and how it keeps running: who pays, who delivers, what it costs. Use AI tools. Prototype fast. Make it real.
Pitch the panel
Bring something to show: a prototype, a demo on your laptop, a poster, a 3D print. Three judges visit your table like investors working a floor. You pitch for 60 seconds, then take their questions. The top team in each section goes on to Demo Day.
Every barrier is a market.
These are the costs we see hurting families most. Build around one, or bring your own. There are no tracks to sign up for. Every team competes in the same round.
One round. Five finalists. Then Demo Day.
Every team gets the same morning and the same three judges as everyone else in its section.
Why sections? Three judges can give every team real attention in one morning, and everyone you're up against for a Demo Day spot pitched to the same three people. Sections are mixed by topic and school, so no panel is comparing six projects from one classroom.
What the day looks like.
Barrier Breakers 2026, in order. The 2027 format keeps the same rhythm: a morning pitching at the tables, an afternoon on stage.
The 2027 pool will be announced with our sponsors. Here's how 2026 paid out.
Demo Day
Five finalists, one from each section. A five-minute pitch and questions in front of the Demo Day panel, ranked 1st through 5th.
Cash is paid to the team and split among its members. 2027 amounts post here once the sponsor pool is final.
Honorable mentions
Each section's runner-up, named by its judging panel and recognized at the awards.
Knowledge Track
An optional financial literacy quiz on your phone over lunch. Open to everyone in the room.
How you'll be scored.
The schedule, teacher one-pager, and class flyer go up once the 2027 date and campus are set.
Three questions, 1 to 5 each.
From every judge who sees you. The highest panel total in your section goes to Demo Day.Who they pitched to.
The 2027 panel will be announced with the host. We need fifteen judges for the morning, three per section, and five of them to stay for Demo Day. Founders, investors, bankers, and operators all make good judges. Apply to judge. It takes two minutes.
They broke through.
Back the first venture these students will ever pitch.
Teams find a cost that hurts families, build a venture to fix it, and pitch it to professionals for prize money. For most of the 250 students in the room, it's the first time anyone has treated their idea like a business. Every dollar of it is raised from scratch, every year.
Where the money goes
The prizes and the day come to about $25,000 for 250 students, roughly $100 a seat. On top of that, we pay a student to run the program.
Raise more than that, and every extra dollar goes into the prize pool. No new line items, just bigger checks for the students.
FinMango is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Gifts are tax-deductible and processed securely by Every.org. For gifts of $2,500 and up, or for an invoice, a named prize, or a package built around you (lunch, a school's travel, your team on the floor as judges), write to [email protected].
Our next university partner: coming soon.
FinMango is selecting a new university host for Barrier Breakers 2027. Universities interested in bringing the challenge to their campus can reach us at [email protected].
Ready to pitch?
Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the 2027 date, host, and applications are announced.
You're on the list. We'll email you the moment the 2027 date, host, and applications are set.